For data centers offering colocation services, the marketing game has changed. Content pieces that are general in scope and released without a buyer persona in mind are essentially a wasted effort. The competitive landscape has also widened: a mile across town, the data center is no longer your only rival for customer attention.
Now you must also contend with businesses and groups targeting the same buyer persona. They can be local- or they could be all the way across the country. Or on the other side of the planet.
These global competitors are reaching audiences via social media, inboxes, and blog articles, creating a veritable avalanche of data. Modern consumers can handle an influx of information that would have left their predecessors breathless, so in this respect, marketers have to struggle to keep up.
To stay on a prospect’s radar when so much information is flooding them, colocation marketers need to design a strategy and system for high-volume content creation. Not just any content, either: otherwise, people will feel spammed and react accordingly. It must be uniquely valuable to the prospect and relevant to them at their stage in the buyer's journey.
Content marketing, which is now a valuable marketing category in its own right, is the process of creating and publishing information to persuade buyers, create new leads, and grow sales. An important element in an effective campaign is high-volume content that includes:
If they want to be successful, colocation marketers must create and deliver these digital media pieces to keep audiences engaged with a regular supply of fresh content. Marketing automation software can take care of the distribution. Still, it is up to the marketer to switch their approach from occasional sales and leadership pieces to prolific output that stays relevant to the recipient.
Adjusting to this approach is challenging in the beginning, especially for companies that are unaccustomed to voluminous output, but when properly strategized, the effort delivers high
value at low cost.
Consumers today are eager for information and knowledge, especially regarding a product or service they are interested in buying. Superficial blog posts and general-interest emails are a meaningless waste of time, and they quickly learn to tune them out. They seek information that answers their questions or helps fulfill a need.
Quality content requires insight into what customers want and need at each stage in the buyer lifecycle, so consumer research is just as important as content originality. Buyer personas are a valuable resource for developing this level of accuracy. They summarize the goals, pain points, and needs of the data center’s target clientele and should dictate the information that goes into each marketing broadcast. When this type of information is delivered at high frequency, target audiences will continue to notice.
High-volume content, when published on a regular basis, will build a steady audience. Over time, some of these consumers could convert into prospects and, hopefully, paying customers and enthusiastic brand advocates.
Do you use high-volume content publishing to advertise your colocation services? If not, are there any obstacles preventing you from doing so? Sound off in the comments below.
Learn more about Colocation Data Center Providers and Go-to-Market Strategy (GTM) for Growth.